I'm Back! Are you?

My life has been one crazy adventure after another lately, and it all has served a pretty good excuse not to blog. It was a pretty good one I might add! I am a full-time grad student, a full-time wife, a full-time mother, and a full-time teacher. Did I mention, I'm finally active in church again?? Yeah, so like I was saying, I've been pretty busy. However, what I have found out also, is that being busy is a great excuse not to be accountable to anyone. Somewhere along the way, I've stopped holding myself accountable to anyone else. In many ways that's a good thing, but it many ways it has worked against me also.

You see, keeping up with this blog was my way of being held accountable. Even if nobody really reads it, in my mind it feels like the whole world can/does read it. In that respect, that means that all of those people, whether real or imaginary, are keeping up with what I'm doing and are in turn there when I mess it up. (that was not what I originally wanted to say, lol) The thought that someone could call me on it is motivating for me in a weird way. It's not my sole reason for staying on track; that would just be silly, right?! It is a part of it. And I know that, which is part of the reason why I have been slacking off so much. If I don't talk about it, don't say it out loud to anyone else, than I can't be held responsible.

It's kinda like the Houston Marathon. I wanted to run the half, but when I asked the ppl I work with if they wanted to form a team, suddenly that meant that I HAD to do it. Other ppl were spending their money based on my idea. So now, I'm registered for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon!!! I am excited and secretly terrified all at the same time. I have not formally started training, as it is still too early. I will begin soon. There is also a half-marathon in San Antonio in November that I would LOVE to be a part of. I just have to be brave. (again, that was not what I originally wanted to say, lol)

So for now, I'm here. I'm committed. I'm dedicated. I'm back. Are you? I'm asking nicely....will you be my accountability partner??!!

Hey now, Hey now, my boyfriend's back!

It's been ENTIRELY too long since my last update, post, pic, etc. Things have been crazy around here. Everytime I want to blog, ten million other things have to be done. Well, thanks be to God, I am getting some things crossed off my "30 before 30" list. That is keeping me pretty busy! I finally have a good before and after pic to show, although my after pic isn't really finished yet. Did I mention that I have started my Master's Degree program? And I am teaching summer school? So yeah, like I said, it's been pretty crazy.

Where do I begin.....I know. I'll start with a weight loss update. I had a few slow weeks, but I am proud to say that I've hit all of my goals for the month of June already. No seriously, I set pretty conservative goals this time. I am OFFICIALLY out of clothes that fit...I can either go shopping or lose 5-10 more pounds. I have elected to lose 5-10 more pounds. I did, however, buy a couple of new sundresses to hold me over. THat's the one thing that you have to love about Texas weather; I may be hotter than (insert funny word here), but at least I can just throw on a pretty dress and hit the door. No point in wearing make-up. It just melts off my face anyway, lol! So here is the moment I think you have been waiting for. My total weight loss up to this point is exactly 29 pounds!! I am soooo excited I can hardly contain myself. Between that and all of the many things that God is establishing in my life (too soon to share, but just wait and see) I feel like I could do anything right now. Seriously, nothing is too hard for me or My God!!

School is wonderful. I am definitely still "Nerd Extraordinaire". I feel this compelling desire to do great on everything now so that if I run into any trouble later I have somewhat of a cushion in my GPA from all of the hard work that I did in the beginning. My professor loves me. She told me that she was "looking forward to having me again" in my 3rd class. She also told me "you will be very successful in this program because of your diligence". That literally made my day last week! =)

The boys are growing like weeds. I can't wait for them to get to visit my side of the family later on this summer. That is going to be the best present EVER! I have not seen my sisters in well over a year; they have never seen my youngest son in person. And to top it all off, my grandmother is even coming! This is big for me. I went my whole life, well the first 26 years, believing that she didn't like me and that she only loved me because she had to. Now that I have been delivered from that lie, I am super excited about the relationship we are now able to have, and I can't wait to see her and for her to see her great grandkids! Speaking of which, I have to go get them breakfast. We have a lot of moving around to do today. It's like they can smell me in the next room or something, lol. Now they're all crying for me. Gotta run.

Until next time.......

Update #2746378467348

I couldn't think of a catchy tune this week, but I feel like I have sooo much to share. For starters, I recently moved. With my ENTIRE kitchen boxed up, eating healthy was one of the toughest challenges I would face last week. I made it, though. Only because I was determined to do so much exercise that it would counteract all of the junk that I was eating. It worked....well kinda. I only gained 1 pound last week!! Who is excited by 1 pound of weight gain you ask? Me of course. Consider the following menu from my week o/gluttony: Saturday= CiCi's pizza, Sunday= Domino's Pizza, Monday= Domino's pizza, Tuesday= Subway AND McDonald's, and Wednesday= I honestly don't remember but I can guarantee it was something bad.

Through it all, running through the apartment complex, lifting weights (or boxes as they are commonly known), and consistently hitting 8000 plus steps a day seemed to really pay off. I am EXTREMELY proud to say to you that I am OFFICIALLY back in my old size 10 pants! I feel great, I look great, and I'm happy with what I see when I look in the mirror! What more can I say?! BTW, for those of you keeping track, I have re-lost that 1 lb from last week, so I am still at 24.6lbs of total weight loss. My goal this week, is to finally surpass the 25 pound mark. I know that I can do it! I know that you can too!!

Until next time.......

It's been a long time, I shouldn't left you...

Without a dope beat to step to..step to, step to , step to, step...baby girl! LOL. Okay so for those of you who didn't know me that long ago or simply have forgotten, there was a time in my life where I thought I was Aaliyah (Nesha can testify to that one, lol). I heard that song yesterday somewhere, and it kinda fit since it's been so long since my last entry.

I didn't write anything last week because I was so frustrated. I was almost ready to quit. It wasn't that I didn't lose any weight; it was simply that I missed my goal by 0.2lbs. I know right...who gets upset over 2 tenths of a pound?! Apparently me! Well, either way, it really bothered me. I wish that I could tell you that I decided to buckle down and work harder this past week...but I would be lying. As a matter of fact I did the exact opposite. I tried to eat horrible...but my body wouldn't let me.

I truly believe that I am starting to experience the change that I wanted to see. I wanted so badly to change my beliefs about eating, and now here it is manifesting right in front of me. Even when I wanted to eat junk, and lazily go about my day something wouldn't let me. Some of you may think that something was my will power, but I know that it wasn't. It was nothing but the Holy Spirit. The Word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us, and I am living witness to that this week.

I am happy to report that since my last entry, I have been more successful in my weight loss endeavors. Last week (when I was complaining) I lost 2.4 lbs. This past week I lost an additional 4.6lbs. This brings my total weight loss count to 24.6lbs!! I'm so excited. All of my clothes are too big. In fact, some fortunate person is going to be rocking some new duds soon; I gave away everything that I could not fit!! That was really hard for me, but I am proud of myself for letting go of my "fat clothes". It means I don't have any room to gain any of this back.

On an even more exciting note......I will be starting graduate school in less than 2 weeks!! I'm so excited! All of my materials have arrived. This is it. I can't believe it's finally happening. But I'm glad that I got these good eating habits down before it was time to do this. Otherwise I may have ended up in a really bad place.

I'm now the weight I was after I had my 1st child. Next stop..pre-baby weight. Not too far past that though. That would just make me look kinda "cracky"!!


Until next time.........

Don't call it a comeback

I been here for years
Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear
Makin the tears rain down like a MON-soon
Listen to the bass go BOOM
Explosion, overpowerin
Over the competition, I'm towerin
Wreckin shop, when I drop these lyrics that'll make you call the cops
Don't you dare stare, you betta move
Don't ever compare
Me to the rest that'll all get sliced and diced
Competition's payin the price

Sorry, I was on a roll! I've been feeling great! I went out Friday for the first time in about a bazillion years! Then to top it all off, I went out AGAIN on Wednesday after work with a few coworkers. I made healthy (well as healthy as possible) choices during both outings. I am very proud of myself! Look at me trying to have a social life!

I really feel like this should be longer, but I don't really have much to say. We all know how rare that is... The best update I can tell you is that I have done 3 full Insanity workouts this week, plus I've been walking, AND I've hit at least 6000 steps (according to my pedometer) every day at work. Yea me! I weigh in this evening, so I'll let you know if it all paid off. I'm sure that I'll have lots more to say after that!

Until next time......

Learning How to Fish

Well, I listened to all of my fans (all 4 of you, lol) and decided not to sing this time. Sorry to disappoint anyone. I can make arrangements for next time! Anywho, this weeks goal was all about healthy eating. Read on for more details.

So I'm trying out this new eating strategy. Instead of focusing on a weight goal, I'm aiming to eat according to the good health guidelines every day. You remember those right?? That little thing the FDA sends out every year...it looks like a pyramid?! That one! So far so good. I can't say that I hit an exact number EVERY day, but I'm getting pretty close. I have been doing this since last Friday, so today makes day 4. I wish I could say that it is becoming easier as the days past, but I find myself always missing something. I will say this: having 2-3 servings of milk, 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables, 2 servings of lean protein, whole grains, and 6-8 8oz. glasses of water everyday leaves little to no room for junk. Seriously! Even though I want something junky, I don't have time to eat it because I too busy counting fruits and vegetables. I'm too full from chugging water and working protein into every meal. On a bright note, my husband has fallen in-love with grilling again, so I get my lean protein AND he gets to have fun!

Right now, I am at a training for summer school. The group I am with is REALLY nice. As usual, everyone piled up and went out to lunch. But not me! No, frugal Fran packed a lunch. So when everyone else left, I decided to blog. It's not as fulfilling; especially as everyone comes back with food. The room, though, smells HORRIBLE; too many different mixes of smells. That's my consolation. Also, it's that when I get home, I can have almost whatever I want; it's that at the end of my road, when I reach my ultimate goal, I know that I will still be on this journey. I know that this is not a diet, but rather a life style change. I am praying that the longer I stick this out, the deeper the change will go. It will move from being behavioral and environmental; it will move from the surface and begin to change my beliefs.

I know that this can work. All of the principles of God work if you work them. God's word does not work because you are perfect. It works because He is perfect. II am reminded of an old proverb said by someone who was important, but obviously not famous because I can't remember what his/her name was (LOL):

If you want feed a man for a day, you give him a fish. If you want to feed a man for life, you teach him how to fish. This is what I am doing; I am learning how to fish!

Until next time........

Awwwwwww Bounce........awwwwwwww Skate!!

OMG!! I forgot how much fun roller skating could be. I went to a birthday party last Saturday, and it took me back....way back....back into time. I'm talking circa 1994-1996. That's right, 6th grade; back when we went roller skating EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND; back when we thought we were cool because when we hit 8th grade our parents let us stay for the 8pm-12am session! It was so exhilarating! And then I went home......and then I realized that I had completed an Insanity workout that morning. That's when it all cam tumbling down like a pile of bricks. What was tumbling you ask?? Me, onto the couch, onto the bed, onto anything that could hold my weight. My legs were on fire! But it was such a great burn. All I could think about was how now I could have an extra hamburger off the grill at Michael's birthday party on Sunday. That made it worth it. Now here we are; it's Monday, and guess what! My legs, thighs mostly, are still sore. I know one thing though...it better show up on the scale on Thursday!

That brings me to the real point of this blog. My current weight loss total is 17.4 lbs!! That is So exciting! I have set a new goal: to lose between 6-8lbs more by June 1st. I'm secretly hoping for 8-10lbs, but I felt I should set an attainable goal and not get too crazy. What if this high I'm on wears out and my numbers start dropping?! Gotta be careful not to set myself up for failure. Plain and simple, I need to lose a pants size by the end of the month. That will be tricky since I carry most of my weight from the waist down. But anyone can fit a dress...it's pants that show the true measure of progress.

One last thing. At Saturday's party, I saw the parent of one of my old students. It's probably been about 8 months since we have actually seen each other and one of us wasn't sitting down. When she saw me, her face lit up. The first words out her mouth, after Hello and my name (LOL) were "WOW! You're losing so much weight! You look amazing!" That absolutely made my day. I don't understand how I can be down almost 20lbs and the ppl that I see everyday (i.e. those I work with) don't bother to mention it. I have several theories about why (some of which include ingesting MASSIVE amounts of 'hater-ade'), but in the middle of forming my last one I decided that I don't care. I am growing up ppl! No longer does the opinion of unimportant ppl matter to me. What does matter is that the ppl I love and the ppl who love me have noticed a positive change in my life.

BTW, for those of you who love to hear me sing, I'll try my best to come up with a catchy yet clever tune for my next post =D

Until next time.......